Felting Fever @Higher Ground, Nov. 16, 2007

A bunch of COOL families got together and explored felting fun on a rainy day! The felting I am talking has nothing to do with knitting--not the kind you knit first, throw-in-washing-machine-to-shrink-bags technically called FULLED BAGS, not felted (try telling that to all the magazines and websites where all the FULLED baskets, bags and hats are a big rage right now, identified as felted...) FULLED craft is an art unto itself.

The simple description of felting we did this afternoon is amazingly deceptive: Feltmaking is an ancient technique. You add warm soapwater to the wool, press and rub the wool and the fibres will tighten into a felted textile material.

Thanks to our friend Kristin S. for making everyone's wet felting experience enjoyable and successful! All the fun project took was rovlings, ziplock bags, hot water, dishwashing liquid soap, and the last important step--a hodgepodge of this and that of pounding, kneading, stumping, squeezing, massaging, poking with chopsticks--really work the fibers together. What makes felting appealing is that everyone can do it with little or no skill in knitting, crocheting, or even sewing.

Ha! There is a lot more to it!!! Wet felting is a lot of fun. Needle felting is very interesting too (think: painting with wool). I used both techniques in a larger piece of fiber made. I am grateful for needle felting for as it has opened up the world of wool and fiber to me (especially for precision art.) You may wear it, walk on it, hang it, drape it, give it as gifts...you get the picture! Ideas are endless. Everything is done with a simple barbed needle. Is that exciting? Trust me...it is not difficult to become an accidental needle felter.

Here you will see samples of white wool with colored rovlings laid out in different ways created by COOL moms and kids all in one afternoon:

Designing is what I enjoy the most. Repetition is not something that I take pleasure in. I adore most arts and crafts and have tried (and still trying) my hand at most of them to see what appeals to me. When I discovered felting last winter, I found a new world of creative crafting, that in my opinion, is just being tapped. New books arrive on the market each month and I have purchased my share of these wonderful volumes and was overwhelmed by what you may do with felting, in variety of methods. It's relatively inexpensive. An abundance of great tutorials is readily accessible online for free. BTW, felting is addictive!!

Felted Bowl Created by Me

What would a COOL gathering be without food? Homemade snacks brought by everyone to share were scrumptious as usual. There you have it...another marvelous afternoon spent with our local COOL families! For more photos, visit here.